KYIV -- The Ukrainian parliament is set to resume key discussions of draft laws that would allow inmates who are ill to receive medical treatment abroad.

If passed, the four laws to be debated on November 7 would allow jailed former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to receive treatment for a back ailment in Germany.

Tymoshenko was jailed in 2011 for seven years on charges of abuse of office that were widely seen as politically motivated.

Officials in Brussels have warned that time is running out to resolve her case if Ukraine is to sign an association and free-trade agreement with the European Union at a Vilnius summit on November 28-29.

At least 2,000 opposition activists and their supporters marched in downtown Kyiv on November 7, demanding Tymoshenko's release and calling for Ukraine's integration with the EU.

President Viktor Yanukovych said on November 6 that Kyiv needs an EU free-trade agreement to kick-start the economy and regain its global competitiveness.